38th British Academy Film Awards

he 38th British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs, took place on 5 March 1985 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 1984. Presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, accolades were handed out for the best feature-length film and documentaries of any nationality that were screened at British cinemas in 1984.^[1]^[2]

The evening's big winner was the British-made The Killing Fields, which had 13 nominations and won 8 of them.^[3]^[4]

Winners and nominees

Bruce Robinson, Best Adapted Screenplay winner

Ray Parker Jr., Best Original Song winner

Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema

Alan Parker and Alan Marshall

Awards

Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

Best Film The Killing Fields – David Puttnam The Dresser – Peter Yates Paris, Texas – Chris Sievernich and Anatole Dauman A Private Function – Mark Shivas	Best Direction Wim Wenders – Paris, Texas Peter Yates – The Dresser Roland Joffé – The Killing Fields Sergio Leone – Once Upon a Time in America
Best Actor in a Leading Role *Haing S. Ngor – The Killing Fields* as Dith Pran** Albert Finney – The Dresser as Sir Sam Waterston – The Killing Fields as Sydney Schanberg Tom Courtenay – The Dresser as Norman	Best Actress in a Leading Role *Maggie Smith – A Private Function* as Joyce Chilvers** Helen Mirren – Cal as Marcella Meryl Streep – Silkwood as Karen Silkwood Shirley MacLaine – Terms of Endearment as Aurora Greenway
Best Actor in a Supporting Role *Denholm Elliott – A Private Function* as Charles Swaby** Ian Holm – Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes as Capitaine Phillippe d'Arnot Michael Elphick – Gorky Park as Pasha Ralph Richardson – Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes as The 6th Earl of Greystoke	Best Actress in a Supporting Role *Liz Smith – A Private Function* as Joyce's Mother** Cher – Silkwood as Dusty Ellis Eileen Atkins – The Dresser as Madge Tuesday Weld – Once Upon a Time in America as Carol
Best Original Screenplay Broadway Danny Rose – Woody Allen The Big Chill – Lawrence Kasdan and Barbara Benedek Comfort and Joy – Bill Forsyth A Private Function – Alan Bennett	Best Adapted Screenplay The Killing Fields – Bruce Robinson Another Country – Julian Mitchell The Dresser – Ronald Harwood Paris, Texas – Sam Shepard
Best Cinematography The Killing Fields – Chris Menges Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes – John Alcott Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – Douglas Slocombe Once Upon a Time in America – Tonino Delli Colli	Best Costume Design Once Upon a Time in America – Gabriella Pescucci The Bostonians – Jenny Beavan and John Bright The Company of Wolves – Elizabeth Wailer Swann in Love – Yvonne Sassinot De Nesle
Best Editing The Killing Fields – Jim Clark Another Country – Gerry Hambling Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – Michael Kahn Under Fire – John Bloom and Mark Conte	Best Makeup and Hair Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes – Paul Engelen, Peter Frampton, Rick Baker and Joan Hills The Company of Wolves – Jane Royle and Christopher Tucker The Dresser – Alan Boyle The Killing Fields – Tommie Manderson
Best Original Music Once Upon a Time in America – Ennio Morricone Carmen – Paco de Lucía The Killing Fields – Mike Oldfield Paris, Texas – Ry Cooder	Best Original Song *"Ghostbusters" (Ghostbusters) – Ray Parker Jr.* "I Just Called to Say I Love You" (The Woman in Red) – Stevie Wonder "No More Lonely Nights" (Give My Regards to Broad Street) – Paul McCartney "Together in Electric Dreams" (Electric Dreams) – Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey
Best Production Design The Killing Fields – Roy Walker The Company of Wolves – Anton Furst Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes – Stuart Craig Nineteen Eighty-Four – Allan Cameron	Best Sound The Killing Fields – Ian Fuller, Clive Winter and Bill Rowe Carmen – Carlos Faruolo, Alfonso Marcos and Antonio Illan Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes – Ivan Sharrock, Gordon McCallum, Les Wiggins and Roy Baker Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – Ben Burtt, Simon Kaye and Laurel Ladevich
Best Special Visual Effects Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – Dennis Muren, George Gibbs, Michael J. McAlister and Lorne Peterson The Company of Wolves – Christopher Tucker and Alan Whibley Ghostbusters – Richard Edlund The Killing Fields – Fred Cramer	Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles *Haing S. Ngor – The Killing Fields* as Dith Pran** John Lynch – Cal as Cal Rupert Everett – Another Country as Guy Bennett Tim Roth – The Hit as Myron
Best Documentary Up – Michael Apted Afghanistan Reports: Allah Against the Sunships – Sandy Gall GI Brides – Lavinia Warner South Bank Show: Allan Bennett – David Hinton	Best Film Not in the English Language Carmen – Emiliano Piedra and Carlos Saura The Return of Martin Guerre – Daniel Vigne A Sunday in the Country – Alain Sarde and Bertrand Tavernier Swann in Love – Margaret Menegoz and Volker Schlöndorff
Best Short Animation Rupert and the Frog Song – Geoff Dunbar Danger Mouse – Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends – Britt Allcroft, David Mitton and Robert D. Cardona The Wind in the Willows – Mark Hall and Brian Cosgrove	Best Short Film The Dress – Eva Sereny Killing Time – Chris O'Reilly Samson and Delilah – Mark Peploe

Statistics

Films that received multiple nominations
Nominations	Film
13	The Killing Fields
7	The Dresser
6	Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
5	Once Upon a Time in America
5	A Private Function
4	The Company of Wolves
	Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
	Paris, Texas
3	Another Country
3	Carmen
2	Cal
	Ghostbusters
	Silkwood
	Swann in Love

Films that received multiple awards
Awards	Film
8	The Killing Fields
3	A Private Function
2	Once Upon a Time in America

References

^ Getty Images: Picture of actor Ian McKellen attending the BAFTA Awards ceremony on 5th March 1985 at the Grosvenor Hotel in London Retrieved 2013-03-06
^ "Film in 1985". BAFTA. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
^ AvaxNews caption under picture 3: British comedian Rowan Atkinson attends the BAFTA awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, 5th March 1985. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Archived 18 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2013-03-06
^ Morgan, David (19 January 2023). "BAFTA Best Film Award Winners Since 1990 – A Photo Gallery". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 11 February 2024.